This present disclosure relates to fuel cell systems. In particular, the present disclosure relates to a load-following fuel cell system for electrical grids operating on renewable energy sources.
The number of power systems relying on renewable energy sources, such as solar and/or wind sources, has increased in recent years. However, due to the intermittent nature of renewable energy sources and the variable demand of users of an electrical grid, power production from the renewable energy source does not always align with power demand. This results in undesirable supply-demand gaps within the power system. For example, when availability of the renewable energy source is low, the power system may have insufficient power supply capability from the renewable energy source to support the current demand on the grid. In other cases, when availability of the renewable energy source is high, power supply may exceed the current demand on the grid. This excess supply risks potential overload of the grid infrastructure, leading to grid instability, reduced reliability, and poor power quality. Power systems often curtail the use of such excess renewable energy sources to avoid potential overload, resulting in underutilization of available renewable energy.
To address the above concerns, systems capable of providing load-following power to support the grid operating on the renewable energy source are used. However, current systems, which often operate using components such as spinning reserves (e.g., gas turbines), internal combustion engines, and/or batteries, suffer from low efficiency, higher emissions, and slow response times, especially during load cycling.
As penetration of renewable energy increases, the precise and efficient management of power generation for a grid system operating on a renewable energy source is becoming critical. It would be advantageous to provide an efficient and fast-responding load-following system for grid systems operating on a renewable energy source.